Remediation of Electroplating Contaminated Soil by a Field Scale Electrokinetic System with Stainless Steel Electrodes

A $1.5m(L){\times}1.0m(W){\times}1.1m(H)$ polypropylene (PP) field scale electroniketic system coupled with stainless steel electrodes was designed to examined metal removal performance applied 0.2-0.35 V/cm potential gradient and 0.05-0.5M lactic acid for 20 day. Electroosmosis permeabilities of $2.2{\times}10^{-5}cm^2/V-s$ to $4.8{\times}10^{-5}cm^2/V-s$ were observed and it increased with the potential gradient increased. The reservoir pH controlled at $7.0{\pm}1.0$ has been effectively diminished the clogging of most metal oxides. The best removal efficiency of Zn, Pb, and Ni was 78.4%, 84.3%, and 40.1%, respectively, in the field scale EK system applied 0.35 V/cm and 0.05M lactic acid for 20 days. Increasing potential gradient would more effectively enhance metal removal than increasing concentration of processing fluid. The reservoir and soil temperatures were majorly related to potential gradient and power consumptio. A $4-16^{\circ}C$ above room temperature was observed in the investigated system. It was found that the temperature increase in soil transported the pore water and metals from bottom to the topsoil. This vertical transport phenomenon is critical for the electrokinetic process to remediate in-situ deep pollution.